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Singapore. The two casinos have been dealt penalties amounting to $385,000 for allowing a total of 44 people to enter or be on their premises when they had no business being there.

Of the 44, 19 were Singaporeans or permanent residents who had entered the gaming halls without having paid the $100 entry levy.

Another five were gamblers who had paid the levy, but stayed beyond the 24 hours that the levy entitled them to.

Seven others were let into the casinos when they were on exclusion orders and should therefore have been barred from entry; the remaining 13 were aged 21 or under.

Marina Bay Sands (MBS) was responsible for letting in 24 of the 44 individuals between October 2010 and April last year; it has to pay a penalty of $255,000.

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), which let in the remaining 20 individuals between August 2010 and last April, has been dealt a $130,000 penalty.

The Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) has meted out other penalties before, but this is the first time the two casinos have been rapped for “failing to prevent” those barred from entering or remaining in their establishments from doing so.

It said in a statement yesterday that the lapses breached the Casino Control Act and its regulations and warranted tough disciplinary action.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports said: “We view the lapses very seriously. We expect the casino operators to fully comply with the social-safeguard requirements.”

Under the Casino Control Act, casino operators must ensure that Singaporeans and permanent residents pay the $100 entry levy, which allows them to be in the casinos for 24 hours.

They must also check that those on exclusion orders and minors are not allowed entry.

They also have a duty to report to the CRA when such breaches are found.

Casinos “must improve entry systems, step up checks”

The Straits Times understands that individuals who were minors or who had not paid the levy or were under exclusion orders had managed to slip in because the casino operators were lax in their checks at their entrances.

Gamblers who had overstayed their allotted 24 hours were mostly caught upon leaving the casinos, when they had to get their identification cards scanned at the exit.

CRA chief Lau Peet Meng said yesterday that the breaches were serious as they undermined the social safeguards put in place to protect those more vulnerable to the ill effects of gambling, such as minors and gambling addicts.

He said: “The operators will need to improve their entry systems and processes, exercise more diligence in carrying out their checks and comply fully with our laws and regulations.”

Last May, RWS had to cough up $530,000 for paying the entry levy for media representatives and for failing to maintain its surveillance system and processes to the standards required. Five months before this, it was censured for making unauthorized changes to its surveillance system.

This is MBS’ first penalty.

Yesterday, the two casinos said they were committed to complying with the regulatory requirements.

An RWS spokesman said the casino had beefed up its checks and would review its procedures regularly.

Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.